Unlikely Odds
by UnbalancedTruth
Summary: A touching, yet morbidly comical story of a girl who, let's just say, didn't see it coming. Enters Otonashi Natsuko, transferee to Namimori High. Her story begins when she meets one Tsunayoshi Sawada and a certain sneaky looking infant, self-proclaimed master assassin, who seems to have more planned for Natsuko than the quiet shoujo life she had hoped for. Set one year later.


**AC; Okay, so, this is my second attempt at a Katekyo Hitman Reborn! fan fiction. Don't even bother searching for the first one since I never got as far as the second chapter. The idea of the first one was making the female character The guardian of the night, in other words have her posses the night flame. And guess who else has the same power ? Pin-pon! The Vindice. The catch is, I had thought this up even before I had gotten to the Arcobaleno trials in the manga, so the moment I found out that they actually had _a night flame_ I got kind of disappointed and gave up on the story. I'm writing this one in hopes of renewing the idea I had, only slightly altered. The main won't be as demented and socially unacceptable and I'm hoping you'll all like her personality. Don't disappoint me and leave me to dry up to dust without even a review or favorite, guys. I'm counting on you. ;v; Now without further ado, let's get a move-on with the story!**

**To stop any confusion, the plot is set _one year_ after the Arcobaleno trials, meaning Tsuna and the other's are officially in their second years of high school.**

**Also! If you're curious as to how our main character looks like, there's information on how you can receive the picture so scroll down below. Thank you!**

**Caution!  
I regret to inform you that I own none of the characters mentioned in the story, except my** **own.**

**Enjoy!**

** Unlikely Odds - Chapter One  
"It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a..wait, what ?"**

_I was always amazed at the sheer closeness, the propinquity the strange and wondrous held with the all-too-known, all-too-dull normality of this world, and it always interested me. Who knew - that alongside all this metaphoric poetry - I'd get stuck living right next to it, and even better, get dragged to dead center. There's a thin line, and I think I just might have crossed it. _

"Nacchan!" A voice called from down below, snapping a certain someone out of their trance. "Hai!" The girl trailed back, propping herself upwards from her prior position on the bed before pivoting downstairs to the source of the voice. "Breakfast is ready, sweetie." Her self-explanatorily introduced mother gave a warm smile, trailing her hand over the cupboards above the kitchen stove in search of napkins. Giving a curt nod in response, she leaned over the dining table, eyes wide at the grandiose breakfast her mother had set up for her. "..what's this ?" She asked distraught, hiding the sheer enjoyment from her facial features. "Today is a very special day for you sweetie. What with your father's constant job transfers and oversea journeys, and what with us following him around like stray puppies, you had no choice but to be home-schooled. That may have worked out for us in the past but now you've long ago passed the point where just any home tutor will suit you. Ah, I'm so happy to have birthed such a talented daughter." Her mother awed in self-amazement. "Mama ? The point ?" The girl hurried her, checking the wall clock every few minutes or so, as if she were anticipating something. "Oh, yes." Setting a porcelain plate containing freshly peeled apples on the kitchen counter right in front of her, she continued. "Your father's job already having settled and the house already having been bought, we've decided to enroll you in a public high school! It won't be as fancy as you remember your first school being, but we hope you'll be able to blend in nicely and make many new friends!" Her mother chirped in a high-pitched tone, plopping an apple bunny into her mouth, awaiting her daughter's predicted reaction. As they say, a mother's intuition~

It took a few moments - which slowly dragged into seconds, then minutes but soon enough the kitchen was engulfed in complete and utter silence, just as her mother predicted. Oh my God! OOOOOH MYYYYY GOOOOD!, the girl thought to herself, fighting to contain the overwhelming happiness raining down upon her. For so long! For so long she had dreamed of this; dreamed of going to a public school and interacting with kids her own age instead of entertaining the usually one-sided conversations she'd had with her private tutor (who on his side thought of himself as the most interesting being on the face of the earth). She couldn't believe this! I mean, sure, she knew that her father's job had settled and that she'd soon enough be getting a new source of education but never in her right mind would she have though it to be an actual _school!_ And a **public** school at that! Her thoughts began to race, her mind examining every future possibility likely to occur through her time in school. She had read so much about this! That's right, all the girl friends she would make and gossip with! All the school clubs she would join on her first day, heck, she'd even volunteer to clean the classroom after class. And not to forget..teehee, possibly a boy she'd get more than friendly with. How she looked forward to it! OH PRAISE THE LORD AND HEAVENS ABOVE, SHE WAS REBORN!

_However, she'd soon realize the meaningfulness behind the words_ _spoken and just how gravely they'd change her world. _

"Sweetie ?" Her mother question with a half-grin, looking down on her daughter silently kneeling on the floor, hands interlaced into a tightly formed prayer, pointing upwards, tears practically falling down her cheeks. She wasn't _really_ crying, but you get the sentimentality of the act. Noticing with the corner of her eye a certain mother staring at her with the most amused of smiles, she promptly stood up, walking over to the chair she'd previously been sitting in and with her legs elegantly crossed above one-another, she finished with a cough, indicating for her mother to continue with whatever thought she had interrupted, all without uttering a single word. Letting a brief chuckle seep through her lips, the mother silenced herself shortly after, already having grabbed her daughter's attention. "You're now a high-school student, more so a second year. You're already sixteen Natsuko, and if you're anything like your mother..well, we'll leave that for another time. My point is, you're a very, very beautiful girl. You have been blessed with your father's and my genes. Use it to your advantage, dear." Mother! Don't tell me your're implying what I think you're implying! She would never. Better yet, it never occurred to her - but let's stick to 'she would never'. "Mama," Her mother's short-lived seriousness melted under the girl's soft velvety voice. "What school am I going to ?" She inquired curiously, picking at her breakfast and eating it piece by piece until there was nothing left to pick at. "Namimori High School. It's close to here." Before her daughter could even suggest, her mother handed her a small piece of paper with instructions written. Giving her mother a sweet peck on the cheek, the girl was already out of the door. She needed to evaluate her new school after all~

Her peripheral vision catching whiff of a large building in the distance, she heightened her step subconsciously, drawing nearer and nearer to her new found social life. Okay, maybe she was getting ahead of herself since the school was completely empty when she got there and she couldn't help but be disappointed at the zero percentage of people, but tomorrow! Tomorrow she would get a first taste on how things worked in a public school. She was stressing it too much. Public school this, public school that, but in all honesty, that was the only way she could fare with the excitement. If she kept enticing it each and every time - otherwise she was around eighty five percent certain she would be overwhelmed by it all on the very day.

Just before she was ready to take her last glance of the school and turn to go, she noticed the front entrance of the school was open. That's strange, she thought. The teacher's assemblies were supposed to be long over and the school; closed for any snooping passerby (in other words, herself), so what was it doing open for anyone to examine ? Disregarding all sense of reason and following her intuition - she ultimately decided she'd have to be a fool to not take this opportunity and without a second of hesitation, she strolled right inside.

The school was huge and just as her mother had warned her - much different from what she expected. The halls seemed to stretch out into eternity, not to mention the doors decorating the walls every twenty steps. As she suspected; she was indeed overwhelmed by it all, eyes wide in excitement and lips curled into a sneaky smile. Since she had absolutely no idea what class she'd be assigned to, she quickly gave up on trying to locate her classroom and instead made the smart decision of taking a detour to the roof (or at least what she assumed was the roof). Stepping out from the door, she felt a cold gust of wind brush passed her, curling around her hair and leading it away from her facial features. She slowly approached the edge, leaning over it lazily all the while observing the scenery. She was taken aback by the beauty. To every other teenager, the scenery was far from extraordinary but to her; her who had traveled to every place imaginable, this scenery was something out of a movie. To her, neither the top of the Eiffel Tower nor the Statue of Liberty could compare to what she was witnessing. She took in a breath - "I'm happy to be aliveee!" She had spoken too soon. The railing rattled violently under her weight, not giving her a chance to fall back before it completely shattered, leaving her without leverage. **"A."** And suddenly she was falling, her life flashing right in front of her. Mama! I'm sorry for forgetting to clean the bathroom that one time causing papa to slip and break his leg! Marshmallow, I'm sorry for not giving you that extra treat you begged for so long that one night! Namimori High Uniform, I'm sorry for not basking in your glory at least once and showing off to the neighbors while fluttering through the streets wearing you! Goodbye, my fateful high school life! I knew thee not too well! Or at all for that matter.

Just when she thought she was dead - utterly unimpressed by her pre-death regrets - she was hovering in the air, staring up at the sky with the most bored expression on her face. Wait..that couldn't be. These kinds of things only happened in shoujo manga! Her gaze flickered to a lock of fluttering black hair before traveling downwards to meet a face of pure irritation. Well sorry for almost dying, you don't have to judge me so much, geeze. It could've happened to anyone. Okay, not really, she was the only one lucky enough to fall from the roof on her not even first day of high-school, second year. "Who are you." The voice snapped her gaze away, realizing she had been giving the nastiest glare to her..savior ? "A soldier of love and justice. Fallen from the sky." On the verge of dropping her, she took the initiative and straightened up, pulling down her tee which had slid up in the process. "Natsuko." She corrected herself finally, noticing the low level of amusement on the male's face. "Otonashi Natsuko." Her full name finally revealed, a hand precisely ran through her hair, the gentlest shade of auburn brown. Her eyes, appearing to be the lightest shade of red examined her savior silently. Tall, dark and handsome - was the only way she could describe him. Seeming unsatisfied by her answer, the male continued. "Unauthorized personnel are to be bitten to death." She stopped, the flashy armband attached to his blazer catching her attention. Head of Namimori High's Discipline Committee of Prefects. "You're not allowed to be here, herbivore." Herbivo - wha - her eyes narrowed, she approached the male without the slightest hints of doubt (despite the especially scary expression he had going on). "I'll have you take that back, Head of Namimori High's Disciplinary Committee of Prefects-san." Then, her phone rang, breaking down the wall of suspense.

"Hai, hai, you've reached the soldier of love and justice. How may I help you ?" She offered, sparing one last glance to the male already walking away, bored of her. "Huh ? Dinner ? Neighbors ? But I'm snooping around my new school. I found something really interesting." He stopped. "The Sawadas ? Mm. Mm. Okay, I'll be right there. Feed Marshmallow for me, she'd been grumpy ever since this morning." She hung up, stuffing her phone back in her pocket. The tall, dark and handsome was gazing at her with an unreadable face, waiting for her to justify herself. "I need to go. Duty calls." She approached him once more, leaning in. "I'm sure we'll see each other tomorrow." She flashed him a warm smile, starting for the gate. You'd think a girl who'd spent the majority of her teenage years void of any communication with kids her own age - not even mentioning the opposite sex - would have a little bit more trouble confronting a person that was A) a person her own age, and B) of the opposite sex. But no. Not Natsuko. Anyone _but_ Natsuko. "Before I forget!" She called back, "Thanks for saving my life!" She hated owing favors (well, not like she ever actually owed anyone a favor since she was forced to do everything on her own but she had decided, that if the situation ever arose, she'd hate owing anyone favors). "I'll make it up to you!" But he was already gone. And so was she.

_Later that evening.._

After getting home, in time might I add, Natsuko was introduced to the Sawada family, in other words, their next door neighbors. Her mother was especially glad to introduce her to mr. Iemitsu and mrs. Nana's only son; Tsunayoshi, or Tsuna as he preferred to be called. A couple of months younger than Natsuko, they were of the same height, Tsuna taking the lead by a few centimeters. He was a good natured-looking brunette with gentle almond eyes and a heart-warming smile and they had hit it of immediately. Her mother had even inserted a bold comment about 'Tsunayoshi being a handsome lad' and that she was hoping he became good friends with her daughter. As the dinner dragged on in chatter, Natsuko had found out that Tsuna was an attendee at Namimori High, also a second year by now and a little part of her was relieved to find out she wouldn't be floating in completely unknown waters. Night rolled in soon enough and their parents didn't seem any less enthusiastic in their conversing and Natsuko had decided that they'd most probably find them in the same position an hour from now so she proposed taking a walk around the block. Well, her mother had. She had just agreed whole-heartedly. "I hope you don't mind me bugging you like this." She said after they had left the lively domain of the Otonashis. "A-ah, not at all. You mother asked politely so.." He retorted in an awkward half-smile, obviously not ready for the sudden shift in his surroundings and atmosphere. But his nervousness was valid, right ? I mean, this was his first time meeting Natsuko and her family and regardless of the fact that they had hit it off perfectly, he was still uneasy around her. For starters, he never was good at talking to girls - always afraid of saying something stupid and that fact hadn't changed in the two years his friend circle broadened. "Tsuna," He shook his gaze from the floor and back onto Natsuko who was happily grinning to herself. For what reason, he couldn't tell. "You've never had a girlfriend, right ?" Ah..so that was it. His shoulders slumped in defeat, revealing his answer and she laughed. This wasn't a laughing matter! "Me neither." W-what ? He stood quiet, secretly awaiting for her continuation. "I've never had a boyfriend. Actually, you're probably the first boy I've ever spoken with that was my age, haha." Aside from her fateful encounter with the tall, dark and handsome this afternoon. "I'm actually glad!" He cocked his head slightly to the left, confused. "Glad ?" He questioned innocently. "Glad that you're my first." His face flushed internally and he fought to keep it from rising onto his cheeks. Her f-first ? Should he feel flattered..?

They spent the remaining hours discussing the most far-fetched of topics, Natsuko not forgetting to mention her meeting with the head of the disciplinary committee (casting the whole 'almost died' matter aside) and Tsuna had told her to stay away from 'Hibari-san', as he had named him. So his name was Hibari ? Somehow, that was frighteningly unfitting. They returned to Natsuko's house and their parents were still happily chatting away, noting how 'Tsu-kun and Nacchan were both already grown up and could take care of themselves' before leaving the house in their care and going out for a night in the town not even twenty minutes into the two teens' arrival, which left Natsuko and Tsuna to loaf around her house. Natsuko had told Tsuna he was free to go home but he said that without a key (which his parents had responsibly taken with them), there wasn't much he could do.

"They seem to be getting along." Natsuko concluded half an hour into a movie Tsuna had picked out. "Yeah, you'd think they've known each other for years." They laughed alongside each other nonchalantly, wasting the night away in casual chitter-chatter. "You seem to be having fun, no-good Tsuna." At that moment, all color seemed to drain from both the teens' faces. Tsuna on his end was more caught off guard than anything by the familiar voice and was delayed a reaction but Natsuko on the other hand was a hundren percent certain a killer had broken in her house and they were both going to die now. Half-way through saying her prayers and cursing the fact that her life was in danger for the second time today, Natsuko noticed Tsuna stand up and rush over to the half-opened window. What was he.."REBORN!" The male shouted in frustration, making grabby-hands at whatever was on the window sill but, whatever it was, it was faster than him and was soon sitting next to Natsuko, remote in hand and bowl of popcorn stolen. For the longest time, she was baffled, absolutely dumb-founded at the scene revolving in front of her. "You talk." She managed to blurt out, faced with nothing more than an infant, barely a year old from what she could tell. "I'm a genius." He said, munching on the popcorn leisurely while following each scene in the movie. "I'd say a miracle. Or a trick! Tsuna, I didn't know you could do ventriloquism!" She tried convincing herself, but soon enough her smile dropped with the realization that she was indeed, kidding herself. "Reborn I thought I asked you to stay at home today!" Tsuna intercepted angrily although subconsciously taking a seat next to the two. "I was a bored and this seemed fun."

"That's not the point! Why won't you ever listen to anything I say!"

"As if I'd ever take orders from no-good Tsuna. Who's your friend ?"

"Dammit Reborn, why - huh ?"

"Your friend. This one." He pointed to Natsuko who had settled with staying silent throughout their discussion. "Who is she ?"

"She's..uh, she's my neighbor."

"Her name ?"

"I'm right here."

"Hm ?"

"I said I'm right here." The brunette said, a slight tinge of annoyance filling her features. "You can ask me."

Seems she's already come to terms with him, huh. Adaptable. A quality trait.

"Okay. What's your name ?"

"Natsuko."

"Last name ?"

"Otonashi."

"Otonashi, eh ? Interesting..no-good Tsuna, you've found yourself a good friend. I like her."

What ? Was he kidding around ? Reborn never _liked_ someone. He just occasionally didn't _dis_like someone. Taking a moment to examine Natsuko, Tsuna wondered what was so special about her (well, aside from the obvious advantages she had above most people). Something Reborn could see...Oh no..he couldn't mean..Tsuna looked at Reborn helplessly - begging for it to be untrue - who in turn simply smirked, confirming Tsuna's fears. "What ? What's this secretive eye-communication you two have going on ? I don't like being kept in the dark." Natsuko stole back the bowl of popcorn, grabbing a fist full until Reborn (she assumed that was his name ?) decided to steal it back. "It's nothing.." Feeling surprisingly dejected, Tsuna shut his mouth and resumed to watch the movie, Natsuko going along with his pace only this time; they had a third companion.

One that was sure to bring forth lots of trouble for the two.

**AC; That took extremely long to write! I don't even know why it took so long but it sure was fun! Don't worry about Nacchan's sudden personality changes, I just have to get into her character, which will hopefully settle in through the second chapter. I imagined her as a main character from most shoujo mangas, slightly silly and more or less a jokester, someone who doesn't really get upset or mad. But the twist is, this is a shounen manga, so you know she's got something hidden. It's not completely overpowering, just a little help I've decided to give her. Nothing close to dying will flames, for the time being. She can't be that amazing from the get go, haha. So for the time being, we'll just make her above average. Oh, and if any of you are curious as to how she looks like, please PM me and I'll give you the link, since ff is a butt with links, haha. ;v; **

**Also, as you may or may not have noticed, I plan on adding in some romance here and there. This will be a shounen fan fiction centered on action on comedy but I just wouldn't be happy without romance. So look forward to a lot of awkward semi-fluffy situations with a different variation of characters. **

**I'm hoping to have the second chapter done somewhere throughout this week, hopefully before I go on vacation. If not, you can look forward to it when I return in a week or so!**

**Remember to leave loving comments and favorite the story, since it's just getting started. I'm hoping to receive all your support in seeing how this will all work out. Natsuko is a sneaky little rascal so I'm sure you won't be disappointed by her shenanigans.**

**If you have any questions for the story or if you have any ideas for the story (and possible romanchiku moments), feel free to leave a comment or PM me and we'll discuss it.**

**Chaossu, babies!**


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